AJ's Website

Thursday, 30 May 2013

I like To-Do lists, well any kind of list,
really. They help me manage my day and get things a little under control. But
one very simple way you can enhance your To-Do list is to put beside each item
the approximate amount of time it will take to complete the task. Here’s a
snippet of a recent list, for example:

Write Blog20 mins

Send card to
Pam5 mins

Mow lawn30 mins

Finish
proof-reading feature20 mins

Continue edits
on novel4
days

Collect library book 30 mins

Etc…

By adding the likely duration, you’re adding a layer of manageability.
I can see, for example, that the novel isn’t going to get finished today – but everything
else is do-able. Furthermore, adding timings can make a long list far less
scary when, for example, you see that half the tasks will take less than twenty
minutes.

Highlight or put rings around tasks that must be done today.

You can even add provisional ideas for when tasks could be slotted in:

I don’t know if other people do this – but it works for me. I used
it this morning to get a simple task done that could have hung over me all day.
My husband has someone coming this evening and I noticed the carpet in the
sitting room was in a state. ‘Vacuum sitting room’ gets added to my list. How
long will it take? Only about 5 minutes. But the idea of dragging the vacuum
out from under the stairs and plugging it in makes me put it off. Then it becomes a little cloud on my shoulder.
I can have several clouds building up during the day if I’m not careful.

Here’s what I do.

Image Microsoft

I get the vacuum cleaner out and plug it in. Full
stop. I don’t do the vacuuming, I simply get it ready, so it’s far easier to do
when I do get around to it later. Later this morning, I came across it when I came
down for the mail and found myself just getting on with the job, because it seemed
so easy!

The same might apply to any other job requiring an appliance:

Get the
car on the drive, put a bucket, sponge and soap ready for washing it later.

Get
the mixer out, the scales, set the recipe book to the right page, all the required
bowls, utensils and dried ingredients ready for the baking you want to do.

This magically makes the
tasks far easier, because by doing most of the preparation in one
self-contained job, you’ve sliced off half of the ‘drag factor’. Try it and
email alison@awaines.co.uk or tweet
me to let me know how you got on!